The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Echinacea plant botanically known as Echinacea×hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name ‘Balsceras’.
The new cultivar originated in a controlled breeding program in Elburn, Ill. during September 2007. The objective of the breeding program was the development of Echinacea cultivars with a double inflorescence form and a well-branched growth habit.
The new Echinacea×hybrida cultivar is the result of cross-pollination. The female (seed) parent of the new cultivar is the proprietary Echinacea×hybrida breeding selection designated ‘E41-1’, U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,110, characterized by its double-type, coral-purple colored inflorescences, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous, upright growth habit. The male (pollen) parent of the new cultivar is from a bulk pollen mix of four proprietary Echinacea×hybrida breeding selections designated ‘E30-3’, ‘E33-4’, ‘E39-2’, and ‘E05’, U.S. Pat. No. 7,982,110, characterized by their single-type, yellow, orange, red-orange, or rose-purple colored inflorescences, medium green-colored foliage, and moderately vigorous to vigorous, upright growth habit. The new cultivar was discovered and selected as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the above stated cross-pollination during October 2008 in a controlled environment in Elbum, Ill.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by in vitro propagation since October 2008 in West Chicago, Ill. has demonstrated that the new cultivar reproduces true to type with all of the characteristics, as herein described, firmly fixed and retained through successive generations of such asexual propagation.